I need help in the worst way, please help

I don't have the app so I can't say for certain but I have lots of apps that I've paid for and uninstalling has never resulted in having to pay for them again.  I'd wait for someone else to chime in but that seems like a no-brainer: uninstall/reinstall the app.

Here's and idea.  Since for some reason the mere sight of my call sign seems to strike fear into the hearts of many, and since I chose an end around to try to get some help only to have my topic moved to the what was considered a proper topic area, no problem, at least someone read it, and since I got one reply from a nice person JPS on the O27 topic page that basically said he was at his wits end with MTH and all of us needed to yell loudly and often to get their attention.  I don't see that I have any more to lose than I already have.  So consider this my way of yelling loudly and often.

I managed to get that finicky app to work again by pressing a button on the wifi unit under the letter WPS.  After that, it worked what I thought was fine.  Before my problems began I had decided, even though I see no reason other than, "wow, cool, neat, looks like a real train", to build a Lashup.  Or as some prefer to call it, a Multi-Unit connection.  Some folks calls it a sling blade, I call it a Kaiser blade.  Anyway, the problems began there.  I just didn't know it yet.  I hooked two engines together, the UP engine was the Head and the BNSF was the Tail.  The head was set to Forward, and the Tail to Reverse.  Seemed logical to me.  I had done this before using the direct remote or dedicated remote that came with the TIU.  It worked fine.  I ran into problems when my two lashed engines began strolling off the beaten path because I left a switch open.  I stopped them.  I tapped the R icon to go in reverse, and when I began tapping the + key gently, they just sat there.  The multi-unit connection wouldn't go backwards.  So I deleted the lashup, used my hands to move the engines back to their normal locations, and all kinds of crap started happening.

For one I had to shut off the system to move the engines.  Every time I try to set an engine with the power on I throw up sparks and it kicks the breaker.  So I just turn everything off and do it that way.  Upon turning the system back on the wifi connected yet not connected fight started.  So I set the tablet down, got the old school remote, fired it up, and all was well.  So I re-built my lashup using the old school remote and it all went off without a hitch.  Same engines, same head, same tail, same directional set up, head going forward, tail set to reverse.  Ran them forward so the head could have a turn, no problem, 40, 50 miles per hour.  Stopped them with DIR, the lights changed, and the tail engine ran the other way just fine.  So something is a miss with the lashup feature on the wifi app.  Takes some getting used to.  Especially when you are ready to end the lashing part and go back to individual use of each engine.

The most dumbfounding part was later when I ran them again using the wifi, this was after I sent out my plea, pushed the reset button.  I ran the BNSF train only to discover my horn and bell wouldn't work.  I tried everything.  I deleted the engine and re-entered it at least three times.  Finally I just went back and got old school, fired it up, started the BNSF engine, and there was my horn and bell back.  Got the wifi fired up again, this time without problems, and when I started the BNSF engine, there was my horn and bell.  So something hinky happened when I created that lashup and made it the slave engine to the UP engine.  I'm aware the lights and horn and bell won't work on the engines attached to the head engine in a lashup.  But it was my experience once you deleted the lashup and went back to using them individually, they would respond accordingly.  You might have to shut one down and restart it, but respond accordingly.  This was my first experience with a dead horn and bell.

Oh I've also found several other interesting and unnecessary features of the great and wonderful wifi.  Granted it's nice, when it isn't on drugs.  The switch screen idea makes those babies much easier to handle, especially when you have 19 of them to navigate.  As fast as you can tap a switch name and hit the chosen arrow icon, it opens or closes and you can move on to the next one immediately, no waiting for the old school to react and return you to the list.  However, you can't use the number pad to jump from switch 1 to switch 14 quickly.  If 14 is off the screen, you have to scroll down to find it.  Old school let you scroll up or down and use the number pad to type 1-4 and it jumped to 14 immediately.  I'm not concerned about internal issues, it's when my tablet says you have connection, but my app says otherwise.  Barry wrote a guide book on the subject, I guess i'll have to buy that one too.  MTH sure didn't write anything telling you how to use it.  One quick sheet installed in the wifi box telling you how to hook it up, and immediately you are an expert.  YouTube has a few beta version videos that show you what it looks like and how to run a train, but I've found nothing on youtube or the MTH site that shows you how to use the premier version. 

Want my half a penny worth.  When MTH forces the wifi issue by discontinuing any service where the old school version is concerned...….go back to using transformers alone.  I don't see Lionel changing its tune about playing with the MTH engines any time soon, so switching to Legacy won't help.  Maybe i'm wrong.  Maybe I have this all wrong.  Well I won't know that until someone gets miffed enough at me to respond and tear me a new one and enlighten me to what I am doing wrong.  I don't mind eating crow, even if it's raw.  But I'm not going to go out and kill my own bird.  I request my crow be served.

John

Mike H.

Thanks for the information.  You chimed in while I was typing that last reply.  If it becomes an ongoing issue, I will try that.  Easy enough to do, I just hope the upgrade portion doesn't net a second payment.  Thanks again.

Yardmaster96 posted:

I don't see Lionel changing its tune about playing with the MTH engines any time soon, so switching to Legacy won't help.

You can control TMCC/Legacy engines with DCS.  I believe you have it backwards.  It's MTH that is not allowing Lionel and the Legacy system to control their engines.  Anywho, good luck to you.

Mike

I owe you an explanation as to why I typed that.

I have run Legacy or Lionel engines on my layout using the Base1L box that's required.  It works, but because it's a Legacy engine and not an MTH engine, there are some issues I decided I didn't want to have to work around.  From my experience only, one thing I noticed was that 17 SMPH on DCS was slow to modest speed.  17 SMPH running a Legacy engine was like it was shot out of a cannon.  So running a Legacy and MTH engine at the same time, to me, was not possible due to speed differential.  But the reason I wrote that line about Legacy not playing with other engines is due to an email I sent Lionel asking them directly, can I run MTH engines using Legacy?  I got back a simple answer in long form.  No.  So I had to go DCS in order to be able to run the 6 MTH engines I have and shelved the two Lionels.

Thanks for getting back to me.

Yeah, they should have responded "No, because MTH won't let us".

That makes a ton of sense.  I see the err of my ways.  I thought Lionel was being a stubborn child only to find out the other kids dad refused to let him come over and play with his kid.  Why am I not surprised.  Let's monopolize the industry and while we are at it let's ignore our mistakes and charge more.

Wanted to send my appreciation for the likes.  I have decided to rename my subject from the panicked "I need help in the worst way", to "MTH WIFI, Oh god what have you done."

Maybe that will drum up some crow eating information.  I'm sorry MTH quit following the forum because people had the audacity to complain about their products.  I can understand not liking being bashed because of misinformation, that I agree.  But just because someone tries to tell them on the forum, because they quit answering emails on the home site, that there is a problem with the app, or the locomotive, or the remote, or whatever, all I can say that is, cry me a river.

But, that's for them to figure out.  All I know is what I see when I use it.  For the record, it isn't bad, but it has its drawbacks, and if a case or two it has its issues.  Maybe they think this is how it should work, but I beg to differ.

Anyone who has used the dedicated remote knows how slow it can be when it comes to navigating switch track.  I use Fastrack remotes.  Adding them to the WIFI app is a breeze, especially if you are familiar with entering switch track thanks to the dedicated remote.  Once they are in, and in my case I have 19 of them, you have a full screen view of your switch list until it gets too large for one screen and like any computer screen, you just deal with that accordingly.  However, the home screen has too many items to place on one screen and it has to utilize a second screen, but it gets a double chevron down arrow which makes it quicker to get to screen two.  The switch list doesn't have that.  You have to scroll down with your finger to find the ones you can't see.  Nothing wrong with that, but might have been nice to have a down arrow.  Anyone who has used the dedicated remote knows the list is small, but you have options.  You can type the switch number and jump to the one you want to activate.  You can scroll up or down to find the bottom and top of the list.  WIFI gives you a big screen, if you have a tablet, to look at.  So, if you have a modest list of switches, you can activate them as fast as you can tap the switch name, and tap the arrow to change the direction.  No scrolling down, highlighting, F4 or F5 depending, then having to wait for the remote to sleepily work its way back around to letting select the next switch you wish to open or close.

If you use the ALL switches selection on the dedicated remote, it's straight forward.  F1, straight or turned out, and all X number of switches that don't match your choice open or close together.  Not so fast on the WIFI.  ALL is a button, or icon if you like.  You tap it and it turns purple.  You tap the open or close arrow icon and once again all of the switches that are opposite the arrow open or close together in unison.  Here's the problem.  ALL doesn't like to give it up after it has been selected.  If you, for instance, close all switches or make them go straight, and then you select switch 10 to reopen it.  Seems easy, right?  Well guess what, you selected switch 10.  That did happen.  The green arrow next the name says so.  But when you tap the turned arrow icon to open it, all 19 switches open.  Why?  Because the ALL command is still purple.  So you have two selections competing with each other, and ALL wins every time.  How do you stop this?  You leave the switch screen, by say going back to the home screen, then return to the switch screen, and now ALL is gray again.  MIGHT WANT TO RETHINK THAT ONE MIKE

YARDMASTER96

You need to call MTH and talk to a tech there. There are too many questions that need to be asked to get an answer on this forum. Nobody knows what your setup is and what you have running causing your problem. That is just the way it is with electronic equipment. I would try the engine by itself on a test track to make sure it's not the layout. Also check your DCS signal. Not everyone is having the same problems, so go figure. 

As far as running trains and switches, it is much easier to use 2 remotes, 1 for the trains and 1 for the switches. I would imagine the same goes for the tablets. You probably don't want to buy another tablet so you will have to put up with jumping from engines to switches. That's just the way it is. 

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but I have an older TIU and I have to unplug my power cord to the WiFi interface unit and replug every time I attempt to connect. Just some old glitch Barry B told me about. Until I started doing this I could never connect with a normal startup.

Good luck!

I love my Remote so much, I went and bought another (even though that thumb wheel can sometimes be slow and erratic)...

Also I'm sure the WIFI Setup and App will get better over time, assuming MTH continues to invest in this new technology. 

If and when you run into network, WIFI, and App issues (and you will have issues), it can be frustrating even if your comfortable around DCS, WIFI, the App, and its terminology.

I've been around Personal Computers, Networks, and Software my whole career, and still end up banging my head against the wall out of pure anger, more times than not.

When everything works as advertised, it's like magic, or things can get ugly real quick, and go south in a heart beat...

Pat C and Gerry

Thank you so much for your replies.  It's nice to know others have had issues with not only the wifi but networks in general.

Gerry - I too have the original TIU with the 9 pin connector cord with a USB end connected to the WIFI Unit.  I hate to hear that but it makes sense.  I guess if this keeps up, the REV L TIU may be in my future.  I too have tried unplugging and plugging in the WIFI Unit to restart it.  I tried resetting the WIFI Unit with a pin.  Sometimes it works, mostly it doesn't.  Thanks for the information.  Helps tone down the frustration factor quite a bit.

PAT C. - I too like my dedicated remote and hope to be able to use it for quite some time to come.  I enjoy using the WIFI mainly because it presents an easier method of using the switch tracks, and the engine list.  As I have mentioned in prior posts to this thread, I have found some "issues" with the WIFI method, but none of those issues prevent me from using the system.  The glitch however, the app unable to talk to the hardware, stops me cold.

I do want to take this opportunity to fill all of you listening in on something I learned today that you may already know.  If not, well, you will now.

I threw an idea I didn't want to have to use at the app issue.  Mike H. gave me the courage to try it.  Starting from scratch has usually resulted in catastrophe for me.  But, I uninstalled the app, reinstalled it, and much to my thankful amazement, not only did google play reinstall the DCS App, but it saw that I had purchased the Premium App on the 17th, and it reinstalled the premium version, not the beta version.  I am calling the free app the beta app.  I did have to re-enter all my switch tracks, but my engine list was still there.  I did have to reset my settings, but hey, who cares, I didn't lose anything.  Re-installing did get me immediate connection, but I have yet to go back downstairs and try it since I reinstalled it and turned off the system.

I have a related question. If I install the Premium Version on my I Phone and then later want to install in on another Apple device, do I have to pay again?

Ed

Ed

Super question.  Thanks to this question I just finished an experiment that answers no to your question.

I have a Samsung Tab A.  The 10 1/2 inch screen makes it easy to see everything, I get more switch tracks listed on one page, and the icons are bigger.  I did notice you have to accept portrait mode as far as screen autorotate is concerned.  Anyway.  I installed the free app on the Tablet, then upgraded to premium.  Paid the money using my google pay account I didn't even know I had.  But my Tablet is set up with the same credentials as my Samsung phone.  Same gmail address and password.  Since I installed the free app using the google play store, when I upgraded, using the tablet and our home wifi connection, the fact I purchased the premium app on December 17th, 2019 has been logged into its system.

After seeing your question I took my cell phone, installed the free app, or so I thought, onto my cell phone, and when I went downstairs to the train room and turned on the wifi in my phone, I used MORE... Upgrade and there was that same December 17th information saying I had already purchased premium.  So, I went to the switch screen, which won't allow you to do anything without premium, and went through the drill of adding a switch.  It let me do it.  One other nice thing, my engines were not there when I first got in, but this app makes adding engines as easy as looking at yourself in the mirror.  Just stand there, open your eyes and yep, that's you.  I had all 6 engines added in less than 10 seconds.  But here's the coolest part.  On the tablet, I changed the name of each engine to its call sign.  BNSF ES44AC #7700 became SFGUNFIGHTER77.  When the engine read portion of adding an engine went looking for my engines, it found all 6 of them and listed them on the inactive list under their call sign name, not their given name by MTH.  Not only did I get all 6 added in less than 10 seconds, I was able to add all 6 and not have to change each one under settings.  Saving me even more time.  Too bad it didn't remember the switch list.  19 switches takes a bit.

To add to my frustration of losing app connectivity to the wifi signal, I thought I might have figured something out, but to no avail.  Since the app was new to the phone, I made sure I connected to the wifi unit before I opened it.  When the screen asking are you using explorer or WIU came up, I chose WIU and it read for a second and said, You're all set.  I failed to do that on the tablet.  Didn't have the wifi activated on the tablet when I opened the app so it went looking for the WIU and didn't find one but let me proceed to the app anyway.  Well, even though I did select WIU and it did find it, I was still locked out of the app.  I unplugged the WIU, plugged it back in, and then trudged through the process of activating the WIFI and then opening the app.  I tapped the read button and it let me in.  So I guess if I want to end this nightmare of being locked out every time I have to turn off the system, I will have to buy a REV L TIU.  Now if I can just find one.

Long story short, based on what I just saw and did, No. If you use an apple device with the same set up as your phone, email address with same password and account information, when you install the app on that device, it will install the premium app since you have a record of buying it previously.  At least that's what happened on my phone after I had already purchased it on my tablet.  Jeff from Mr. Muffins Trains also told me this a few weeks ago, so I had some information to go on.

Thanks John! Sounds like one needs to download the free app and then upgrade. Bought the WIFI device already and will be getting some new I Phones in a few weeks so I think I'll give it a shot. Maybe try to buy Barry's WIFI book in the meantime for a security blanket.

I love this Forum!

Ed

I know ounce you pay for an upgrade on a apple phone you don't have to pay again when you download again. there is no  charge ! don't  know about outer phone company's!

Alan

p.s. you want to uninstall your app and then re download it all over again as your app may be corrupted and have  too be uninstalled  to correct the problem!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alan

Alan

Way ahead of you my friend.  Tried that a couple days ago, was impressed that it downloaded the premium app and not the free app, which answered a question.  Didn't work.  First time I fired everything up and connected to the WIFI and ran the app, it worked fine.  Ran my trains, finished up, disconnected, turned off the tablet, turned off the layout, WIU remained on and lit like it always does because it gets power by being plugged in.  Next morning, fired up the layout, fired up the tablet, connected to the WIU, opened the app, dead as a hammer.  Tried using the read icon over and over and no result.  "No TIU/WIU devices found".  Unplugged the WIU, disconnected from the WIFI on the tablet.  Plugged the WIU back in, let it fire up.  Reconnected to the WIU, opened the app, there was my number 1 engine ready to go.

I'm considering when I get some money changing to the REV L TIU.  If that doesn't work, then MTH has a glitch they need to address.  Thanks for the information, always appreciated.

John

John,

There is one thing in the list of actions you mention above that may have an impact on the problems you are having.  Why do you disconnect and power everything off when you shut down except the WIU?  I have found that the WIU most times is not smart enough , or designed to connect automatically to a freshly powered on TIU.  If you power off the TIU but leave the WIU powered on, it does not seem to initialize when the TIU is powered back on and there is a possibility that the connection is broken until the WIU is rebooted.  That could explain why you can connect and find your engine after powering off the WIU then plugging it back in so it can initialize and connect to the TIU.

Just my .02.

Gary

MikeH posted:

Yardmaster96 posted:

I don't see Lionel changing its tune about playing with the MTH engines any time soon, so switching to Legacy won't help.

You can control TMCC/Legacy engines with DCS.  I believe you have it backwards.  It's MTH that is not allowing Lionel and the Legacy system to control their engines.  Anywho, good luck to you.

This is a useful thread. I’m struggling with the Wi-Fi. I’m gonna figure it out after Christmas. I’m sure you’re correct that MTH won’t let Lionel in, but I’m not sure MTH would survive losing the DCS business and I’d hate to lose, what I think is superior speed control and more robust rolling stock and entry level engine quality. Lionel won’t up the starter set quality, but has definitely pulled ahead on control. The kids I got MTH sets for this year have to look away from the trains to focus on aiming the IR controller. Lionel Lionchief doesn’t have that issue, but when those same kids start grabbing, the Lionel is flimsier. And forget about pulling power....

in the end, I’m glad we have them both and I’m pretty sure you can run both on the same track....

MARTY R and MRMOE

Thank you for your information.  First.  Great question about why I don't power down the WIU.  It's a powered by plug device.  It doesn't have an on and off switch.  I set up the TIU to feed the track power by use of a Lionel "brick"?....Whatever.  But it has an on and off switch.  So when I turn off the brick, I turn off the TIU and the track.  The WIU is plugged into another outlet at the other end of the shelf, and is connected to the TIU via the serial port.  I don't have a REV L.  I personally am not comfortable with plugging and unplugging all the time.  Damaging the outlet, damaging the prongs on the plug, to mention a couple.  But.  I did find a 1 outlet power switch.  In Santa Fe.  So it's headed across the United States as we speak.  The goal is to plug that into the outlet, then plug the WIU into the power switch.  Now I have an off and on switch.

Along these lines.  A friend of mine, my guy in Lexington who repaired my dedicated remote, he told me to power the TIU separate from the track.  I'm confused a bit.  How can you do that and not run power through it to the track.  Isn't that the point?  The only thing I could come up with was to use an auxiliary power cord, plug it into the AUX hole through the barrel end, and plug the other end directly into the outlet.  My guess is that when I turn off the brick, the power to the track will cease, but because the TIU is directly powered, it will remain powered even though the brick is off.  If that's the case, I have solved my problem.  If the TIU remains powered, then the WIU and the TIU won't lose connection and hopefully I won't lose app connection.

MARTY

What prompted that line about kids playing harmoniously together, came from a thread in which a forum member mentioned that MTH's desire to end the dedicated remote and go fully techno will bite them and the "competition" will jump in and take over.  My reply to that was "what competition?"  O gauge is not the darling it once was.  HO seems to be the heralded method these days.  Granted I know little about HO, but thanks to some dated videos I got to watch an expert set up the remote system and it was so labor intensive and hardware oriented my brain went numb.  MTH and Lionel, unless I am completely stupid as to who is out there, are the Rockefeller and JP Morgan of O gauge trains.  I know Atlas has O stuff, but when you talk O, you talk MTH and Lionel.  So, unless I have this wrong, if I do please help me, Lionel's competition is MTH and MTH competition is Lionel.  So if MTH rep goes sour and all of the O gauge people decide to migrate to the other side, they have one party to migrate to.  DCS is my remote system of choice because I in my dumber days of train enthusiasm bought a Lionel ES44AC all because it "looked cool".  Then I saw a BNSF ES44AC and bought it because it "looked cool".  Now I have two different engines and am studying remote as my method of operation.  Legacy only operated Lionel engines.  DCS operated all engines.  Buy one type and never run my MTH engine, or buy the other and run both.  Decision was pretty simple.  Now, thanks to some enlightened information, I discover that Legcy only runs Lionel engines not because they want to be exclusive, but because MTH "won't let them run MTH engines."  But MTH can run Lionel engines.  You see where I am going with this.  If I have this wrong, I apologize to any MTH personnel or mechanics or die hard MTH fans for speaking out of turn.  But instead of throwing rocks at me, enlighten me.  Where do I have this wrong?  But if I am right, don't attempt to shut me up.  I pay too much for this stuff to be silenced.  If you have products that don't work right, that have glitches, or weren't thought out quite well at the drawing table, fix it.  Quit wishing all of us would shut up and go play with our toys. 

That's my base issue with all of this.  Two companies in a constant tug of war for customers using products that have obvious issues they seem to fight wanting to fix.  That WIU should not have any problem reconnecting at any time.  On, off, up or down, when you power up your system, the parts should work seamlessly.  If they don't, don't look to the forum to figure out how to work around it, fix it.  And while you're at it, thank us for the information, don't yell at us and tell us we are whining.

You can power your TIU through the AUX port with any 12-24v AC or DC power supply. I power mine with a 12v DC power supply. A MTH Z500, Z750, or Z1000 brick also works great. With the TIU powered from the AUX port you can get it and your WIU powered up and ready to go before applying power to the track. In addition a short circuit on Fixed 1 will not shut other channels down, since the TIU is not recieving power from Fixed 1.

Yardmaster96 posted:

“.....Now I have two different engines and am studying remote as my method of operation.  Legacy only operated Lionel engines.  DCS operated all engines.  Buy one type and never run my MTH engine, or buy the other and run both.  Decision was pretty simple.  Now, thanks to some enlightened information, I discover that Legcy only runs Lionel engines not because they want to be exclusive, but because MTH "won't let them run MTH engines."  But MTH can run Lionel engines.  You see where I am going with this.  If I have this wrong, I apologize to any MTH personnel or mechanics or die hard MTH fans for speaking out of turn.  But instead of throwing rocks at me, enlighten me.  Where do I have this wrong?  ....”

MTH’s DCS system does not run TMCC/Legacy engines out of the box.  In order to run TMCC/Legacy engines using your DCS remote or App, you must still purchase and install a TMCC or Legacy base and connect it to your TIU.  If you purchased only DCS with the understanding that it could run both MTH and Lionel Legacy engines, unfortunately that’s not going to happen.

Moe

You are correct sir.  I knew going in if I bought DCS instead of Legacy I'd need the Base1L box to make the Lionel engine work.  I did that at first, but my layout is small and I had to get creative just to run all of the MTH engines I own.  So, to make room, I shelved the Legacy engine as a display item.  It works fine.  Looks great.  Personally I like the looks of the Lionel version more than I like the detail on the MTH version.  But that's another story.  I ran Lionel and MTH at the same time and found out that 17 smph was interpreted differently by each engine.  MTH moved along slowly, while Lionel's acted like it was shot out of a cannon. 

Lou

Based on what you are telling me, what David told me and my interpretation of what he said sounds like all three of us are on the same page with powering up the TIU.  Here I jumped the gun and bought an on and off switch for my WIU, and it was as simple as powering the TIU using an auxiliary power input.  If I am correct, and again, please set me straight, By doing that, the TIU remains powered up, the track is shutdown when I turn off the brick, and my WIU doesn't need to be turned off because by nature of the TIU still being on, the WIU won't lose connection with it.  So if that's what is causing the disconnect between the app and the WIFI, then I just solved my problem?  That being said I still wish MTH would hear this and fix the disconnect issue.  The app was launched in April of 2017, I first started using it in December of 2019, Barry told a fellow member of the forum there was a glitch, and as we speak we are discussing a glitch that has existed probably since the app was launched.  What's worse is that MTH seems to have the following fix in mind.....buy a REV L TIU and ditch your old one.  It's as if their stance is "if the customers aren't willing to upgrade with the times, why should we promote remaining in the past?"  They upgrade the TIU to the L version and we have the audacity to want to save money and keep using our current version which supposedly works, but has a glitch.

Oh, I forgot to respond to something earlier.  I have a LionChief Mikado Steam Engine that I run on my elevated track.  I pull 10 cars behind it without any wheel slippage issues or signs of bogging down.  Then again I run strictly on flat surfaces, no inclines or hills.

This just presented itself to me this morning about a half hour ago and I wanted to field this question.  Keep in mind I am going by what I saw on the free app.  I haven't read Barry's latest edition of the WIFI companion but it is on its way as we speak.  MTH, to my knowledge has no literature pertaining to how to use the Premium app, beta app for that matter, and the YouTube videos only talk about the free app and what it can do and how it works.

With that tid bit of information to go on, here is my question to anyone familiar with the Premium app, in the sense that they are aware of why this is so.  "Where is the big red E that acts as or Emergency Stop button?  The free app had it on the home page right where it needed to be on the top page ready to spring into action.  The dedicated remote had it at the bottom with E-stop written on it.  The premium app doesn't have it anywhere that I have seen on any screen or in any menu.  What am I missing?

You have to Enable it.

/...more/Advanced Features/System Settings/Hide e-stop button/

Turn the feature Off to show the red button.

Thank you Moe and thank you for the grid coordinate to getting to it.  I was in the process of getting back on my computer to let all of you know that David from Lexington, the guy who runs a train store out of an old train depot along the Norfolk Southern line, got back to me and said as much.  "You need to go into advanced menu and reactivate it."  This is one menu set I have yet to delve into what with all the other poltergeists I've encountered.  Not sure why it is considered and optional item.  I guess some of the grumblings they got from users might have been that it was too easily pressed by accident on the dedicated remote, and being on the main screen it was too easily touched.  Maybe they felt it was a sparsely used feature and decided to let us decide if we wanted it available for action.  No big deal.

Thanks again Moe.

John

Remember that line about how I don't mind eating crow if it is a justified meal?  Well, I ate a slice of it a few minutes ago.  MTH did provide an owners manual, more for the free app than the premium.  35 pages.  PDF.  Didn't exactly see how to save it to tablet, but did see how I could email it to my home address if I want.  Talks a lot about how to use the WIU as a unit.  Gives an app tour.  Says nothing about the switch menu or as I have learned, the E stop being an option.  But, they did create a manual and it is available for use.  So crow eaten.

I want to expound on the E stop button a bit.  It is easy to find and turn back on, but it requires a password.  That threw me for a second, especially since it needs to be verified before you officially get it back, but I again threw a rock into a black hole and hit something.  It's the same password used to log in to the wifi app the first time.  I don't mean to be a pill about things, "then why are you?"  But verify password, really?  It's E stop the feature, not E stop the national security risk.  What's next a retinal scan and blood analysis?

MikeH posted:

I don't have the app so I can't say for certain but I have lots of apps that I've paid for and uninstalling has never resulted in having to pay for them again.  I'd wait for someone else to chime in but that seems like a no-brainer: uninstall/reinstall the app.

As long as you are installing the app on the same type of device for which you purchased it, and do it using the same user account, you shouldn't get charged.  I've downloaded the premium app to multiple Android devices without an additional charge.  I've seen posts where people said they were charged; they called MTH and got the charge reversed.  YMMV.

I had one of my cheap android tablets go south on getting the wi-fi signal, and it was a fault in the tablet since it couldn't connect to ANY wi-fi.  A couple of things to try to make sure that the tablet isn't part (or all) of the problem:  1)  See if your tablet can successfully work with another wi-fi signal, such as your home network.  If it works, the tablet isn't the problem, but if it doesn't, then the tablet is suspect.  2) Load the app onto your phone.  If your phone is a different type of device (i.e., one is Apple and one is Android), just load the free version.  See if your phone will connect to DCS and run a train; if it works, then the problem is likely in your tablet.

Tablet appears so far to not have any trouble connecting to WIFI signals.  Our home set up is a Netgear router hooked to a cable running to our Hughes Net satellite.  Once that happens we have booster boxes plugged in at two points in the house to help it connect to the Laptop upstairs in the kitchen......which is where I am right now.  On certain days, which ones I have no idea, our laptop will pick up the broadcast from the WIU and it will become one of the WIFI signals we can select from to get on the internet.  As we know unless the WIU is connected to a LAN, that's impossible but hey, it picked up the signal.  So the WIU is putting out a strong signal.  Long story short, my Tablet will pick up the home wifi signal, even though it is incased in a concrete room with the door practically shut.  The moment you plug the WIU back in, the tablet immediately sees it and adds it to the list.  Once I select it, the connection is immediate, and it tells me internet is not accessible.  Yea so, what's your point?  The issue starts when I have to turn off the TIU for whatever reason.  Once that happens, the app can't reconnect with TIU, because the WIU can't reconnect automatically with the TIU.  It's odd, the TIU light on the WIU stays on regardless.  You wouldn't know there is a problem on the surface.  One would think if the light stays on, the WIU and TIU are still speaking to each other.  But, nope.  Once that TIU loses power, the connection is broken until you unplug the WIU and plug it back in.  When you do that, the WIU reboots, pings the TIU, finds it, light comes back on, return to the app, wait a few seconds or just hit the read icon, inactive engines are activated, and you are off and running.

Not sure since I don't have one if a REV L solves this problem, but going out on a very short limb on a very old tree, I don't think it does.  I am probably wrong, but, it appears to me the powers that be designed the WIU to work with a system where the TIU is never turned off.  Track power is disconnected, maybe, but TIU power is never lost.  So the WIU only has to initially ping the TIU for contact, and once contact is made, it is never lost.  Guys like me who turn off their TIU after each running session, make for irritating problems.